About the tester
First of all, about me: I'm male, 39 years old and weigh around 70 kg at 175 cm tall. I now spend more days touring than skiing, so I've been able to use the Spectre 2.0 a lot. My touring is downhill-oriented, which means that the boot should not only be comfortable and easy to wear on the ascent, but should also offer stability on the descent and come as close as possible to an alpine boot. Tech bindings are fitted to all my touring skis. With around 50 to 60 days of skiing per season, I have developed certain requirements for ski boots, especially touring boots; after all, a good touring boot should work in any conditions.
First impression
In recent years, I have been using the Dynafit Mercury and this boot provided the combination of comfortable ascent and descent performance described above to my satisfaction. So far, I have mainly used La Sportiva shoes for climbing and trekking and was very satisfied with them. So I was all the more excited about the touring boot from La Sportiva.
According to the manufacturer's advertising, the Spectre 2.0 should offer the "combination of power, control, durability and precision of a piste boot and the agility, maneuverability and lightness of a ski touring boot" that I wanted. The four-buckle boot with powerstrap and a Grilamid shell weighs 1445 grams in the tested size of 27.5. The sole length is only 303 mm due to the compact design, just like the Dynafit Mercury, so I was pleased that I didn't have to re-drill my bindings.
The Spectre 2.0 is compatible with Tech, AT, Skitrab TR2 and Marker KingPin bindings. The liner of the Spectre 2.0 is an EZ Thermo Liner, which can be thermally adjusted. As the boot fitted me perfectly right from the start, I didn't make any thermal adjustments. The liner also comes with a WarmSole insert, which I use. Protective pads are also supplied for any friction points. You can lace up the inner boot, but I personally don't do this.
The boot offers three different heel angles: 10°, 14° and 18°. Since I ride the Mercury with an angle of 18°, I decided to set this for the Spectre 2.0 too. On the top two buckles, you can mount the buckle fixation in three different positions. The individual buckle lengths can be varied by turning them. At first glance, the buckle fixings seem a little "fiddly". The fixation is adjusted at the start of each tour and then remains in position - only the buckle itself is opened or closed. At the back of the boot, the Fast-Lock system (small, easy-to-operate lever) allows you to switch between ascent and descent mode.
